The West Is The Best
Highlighting the West Zone
(12-2PM)
Somerville Porchfest
Somerville Porchest is happening Saturday, May 10, 12-6PM.
West is the Best, with Awnthay, Baby Bowler, Eight Foot Manchild, Graveyard of the Atlantic, Hush Club, Michael Boezi & The Stipulations, Miss Bones, Ruby Grove, Scrivener, State Parque, The Roscoes, Reading Room, Mallcops, Dot Dev, Muddy Ruckus with Barry Rothman, and Really Great.
Rain date is May 11.
Somerville Porchfest has always pulled good crowds, and it might have broken a record last year with the Guster Affair.
In response, the Somerville Arts Council introduced a few new wrinkles into this year’s edition, most notably: (1) making certain streets “out of bounds” for performers, in the hopes of preserving throughways for vehicles, and (2) adding a volunteer crew to lend a helping hand. You can learn more about the particulars and see the full Porchfest map at the SAC website.
Other than that, it’s business as usual with a tidal wave of artists sweeping across Somerville, west to east, over the course of the afternoon. Note the times.
West Zone (12-2PM)
Central Zone (2-4PM)
East Zone (4-6PM)
Over 400 porches are in play this year. Multiply that number of porches by the number of acts per porch, and you have… you have a lot.
The afternoon can be bewildering. How to navigate it best? Here are three solid strategies:
1) No Plan, Just Follow The Music
Don’t look at any lists, or maps, or social media posts. Just plant yourself at a starting point in Somerville, open your ears, and start following the music. The only parameter to keep in mind is the timing of the zones. The West Zone starts off at noon. If you want to do the whole day, start in the west and drift east.
2) Build Your Own Adventure
Maybe you have friends performing, or there’s a band performing that you always wanted to see. You can use the supermap at the SAC website to build your own adventure. The map is searchable (super helpful), giving you all the info you need to chart your course.
3) Hit The Highlights
Hump Day News has put together a list, with accompanying map, to help you cut through the chaos. These are acts that we’ve covered, seen live, know will perform a killer set.
Note that we pulled this info from the SAC supermap, which doesn’t include EVERY artist performing at a given porch. For example, Dot Dev (fka Pink Navel) is performing with Mallcops in the West Zone, but only Mallcops is listed. Maybe only the band that applies to SAC gets listed in the supermap? Not sure. Take our list as a starting point and “do your own research.”
Hump Day News Highlights
12:00pm – 2:00pm, Rock, 6 Park Ave
Moon Over Salem veterans bring the music back home to Somerville.
Awnthay
Baby Bowler
Eight Foot Manchild
12:00pm – 2:00pm, Metal, 46 Moore St
Still can’t dunk.
12:00pm – 2:00pm, Indie, 38 Meacham Rd
It’s music to listen to while your boat is getting up to ramming speed to crush the military yacht of a genetically-engineered Adolf Hitler war-clone in World War 5.
Graveyard of the Atlantic
Michael Boezi & The Stipulations
12:00pm – 2:00pm, Indie, 5 Hall Ave
When he’s not always online, Michael Boezi plays the jams.
Miss Bones
12:00pm – 2:00pm, Indie, Rock, 78 Chandler St
A photo from last year’s Porchfest. Is this street still kosher for performances?
Ruby Grove
12:00pm – 12:30pm, Indie, 36 Pearson Rd
“The band blends elements of alt-country and early-2000’s indie and emo music, crafting rough-edged, lyrically dense songs that dwell on themes of isolation, longing, and regret.” No regrets!
Scrivener
State Parque
12:00pm – 2:00pm, Rock, 142 Holland St
Go visit State Parque before the Trump administration shuts them all down.
12:00pm – 2:00pm, Rock, 26 Moore St
Indie rock with “a sound steeped in British influence—drawing comparisons to Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, and Interpol.”
The Roscoes
12:30pm – 1:30pm, Indie, 1 Watson St
Reading Room
Dot Dev
Muddy Ruckus with Barry Rothman
1:00pm – 3:00pm, Rock, 93 Kidder Ave
1:00pm – 1:30pm, Indie, 62 Gorham St
Really Great
Awnthay tchotchkes Chagall PAC at Moon Over Salem.